Abu Dhabi Media Company Relies on Omneon

March 26, 2008

Omneon has announced that the Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has selected the company's Spectrum server system for media ingest, storage, and fully mirrored playout at its new broadcast facility in the city of Abu Dhabi. A key factor in ADMC's selection was the Omneon MultiPort 4102, the Spectrum system component that will ease the broadcaster's transition to HD while enabling it to make the most of its extensive library of SD content, said Omneon.

The modular design and flexibility of the Spectrum system allows configurations that will precisely and cost-effectively fit within ADMC's ambitious plans for the future, said the broadcaster. Initially, the operation will be hybrid SD/HD, but time will see a transition to all-HD operations. The Spectrum system offers a single file structure for both SD and HD content — saving ADMC the time, trouble, and complexity of setting up and maintaining individual storage for each format. ADMC's Spectrum system, to be installed this summer, will ingest 10 channels storing 1,400 hours of SD content at 15 Mbps and will play out seven channels with an additional seven channels of backup.

"The use of state-of-the-art production and broadcast technology is essential to achievement of our broader social and economic goals here in Abu Dhabi," said Abdul Hadi Al Sheikh, ADMC chief technology officer. "Indeed, we see development of media and culture as the key to our ongoing economic and social growth. Flexible equipment like the Omneon Spectrum system enables us to leverage our legacy of media assets, which is another way of saying to bridge past and present while looking to the future."